The next day, in the French embassy in Da Zhou on the eastern outskirts of the capital, Chen Yiming, the secretary of the ministry, saw the blonde and blue-eyed Lopunov, who was somewhat tall.

Most of the Rus' were taller, compared to the Great Zhou, and taller than the rest of Europe.

After Pierre introduced the identities of the two, he acted as an interpreter.

In the Great Zhou, it is difficult to find people who understand Rus, and even Pierre himself is not very proficient in Rus, but fortunately, Lopnov has good French.

Just as in East Asia, Chinese is the lingua franca, and in Europe, French is the lingua franca.

However, when he saw the way Chen Yiming and Lopnov saluted, the corners of Pierre's mouth twitched, and then he remembered that he had not introduced the etiquette of Da Zhou to Lopnov at all.

"Hello, Your Excellency Chen Yiming!" As he spoke, Lopunov reached out to shake Chen Yiming's hand.

But Chen Yiming clasped his hands into fists and bowed to Lopunov.

This......

Lopunov didn't know the etiquette of Da Zhou, and Chen Yiming also didn't know the handshake ceremony when the two sides met in Europe.

Although there are many foreign teachers in Da Zhou, especially in the Royal Academy, Chen Yiming has not learned about it, and even this is his first contact with Europeans, so he naturally does not know the etiquette of Europeans.

However, even if Chen Yiming knew about the handshake ceremony, he would not shake hands with Lopunov, which was his pride as a Han Chinese.

In his bones, Chen Yiming, like other scholars, looked down on these 'Xiyi' in his heart, if it weren't for Zhang Lingyang's order, Chen Yiming would rather not see these blonde and blue-eyed 'barbarians' for the rest of his life.

Because they didn't understand the other party's etiquette, both parties were embarrassed for a while, but Pierre, who acted as an interpreter at this time, explained to both parties, and they were relieved.

"I heard that your country wants to make peace with Da Zhou, tell me about your conditions!" As soon as he sat down, Chen Yiming didn't care about greeting Lopunov, and asked straight to the point.

"Conditions? What are the requirements? Lopunov shrugged his shoulders, "As long as the Great Zhou agrees to a truce with the Rus Empire, the Rus Empire will definitely not go east to harass Warat and the Great Zhou in the future." ”

"Agitation?" Chen Yiming's face turned dark, "So many Warats died at the hands of your Rus, you say this is harassment?" This is clearly naked aggression! ”

"As you said, it was the Warats who died at the hands of our Rus." Luopunov said disapprerovitically, "What does it have to do with your Da Zhou?" ”

"Why doesn't it matter?" Chen Yiming said with a dark face, "Warat is a vassal state of my Great Zhou, and your invasion of Warat is an invasion of my Great Zhou Tianwei, you say that you have nothing to do with it?" ”

"Your Excellency Pierre, I don't understand, why is this high-ranking official of the Great Zhou so messing around?" After listening to Pierre's translation, Lopunov looked directly at Pierre and asked in French.

Shrugging his shoulders, Pierre said: "This is the habit here in East Asia, according to the custom here, your Rus Kingdom goes to war with Warat, just like a war with the Great Zhou. ”

"How can this be the same? They are clearly two countries. Lopunov still didn't understand, and he spoke a little impatiently.

Pierre patiently explained: "In East Asia, there are many small states that are vassal states of the Great Zhou, and they pay tribute to the Great Zhou every year, begging for the protection of the Great Zhou. Even the succession of the new monarchs of these vassal states must be approved by the emperor of the Great Zhou, otherwise their thrones will not be legitimate, and legally speaking, these vassal states are the nominal land of the Great Zhou. ”

"You also said that these vassal states are only the nominal territory of the Great Zhou, so why is the Great Zhou chasing after them?" Lopunov still did not understand.

"But from a legal point of view, these vassal states are the territory of the Great Zhou, what is the difference between your Rus' invasion of Warat and the invasion of the Great Zhou?" Pierre said disapprehantly.

"Yes...... But ......" Lopnov was blocked by Pierre's words for a while, and did not know what to say.

"Okay, I admit that it was wrong for us Rus to harass Warat before, and here I would like to express to you the most sincere advice of the Rus Empire, hoping that Da Zhou can live in peace with the Rus Kingdom in the future......"

After listening to Pierre's translation, Chen Yiming said coldly: "That's it?" I paid so much price in Da Zhou, how can I just apologize? ”

"And what do you want?" Lopunov said impatiently, "What price did Da Zhou pay?" You must know that in the last war, the 30,000 troops of the Rus Empire were completely annihilated, and the price we paid was great! ”

"That's why they're dead!" Chen Yiming sneered, "If your Rus Kingdom doesn't launch an invasion, then the 30,000 army will be wiped out?" After all, it's your own fault! ”

"Then what do you want Da Zhou?" Lopnov lost all patience and asked directly.

"It's very simple, cut the land, pay compensation!" Chen Yiming said coldly.

"What?" After listening to Pierre's translation, Lopnov glanced at Chen Yiming in surprise, then looked at Pierre and asked, "Your Excellency Pierre, is your translation wrong, or is this person crazy?" Actually let our Rus Empire cede land and pay reparations? What a joke. ”

"Your Excellency Lopunov, I didn't make a mistake in translation, Your Excellency Chen Yiming didn't go crazy!" Pierre said lightly. If it weren't for the personal order of His Majesty the Emperor, Pierre would not be willing to help Lopnov? As a defeated country, it wants to retreat with its whole body, how can there be so many good things in the world? Do you think the Rus' Kingdom was the French Empire or the English Empire?

"Your Excellency Pierre, you know that since the founding of the Rus Empire, no matter whether the war is won or lost, our Rus Empire has never paid a single franc to a foreign country, nor has it cede an inch of land, Da Zhou made such a request, don't say that I don't agree, even if I do, His Majesty the Emperor of our country will not agree."

Pierre also knew the actual situation of the Rus' country, and in fact, as Lopnov said, for so many years, the territory of the Rus' country has only expanded, and how can there be a cession?

Besides, Pierre knew very well about the financial situation of the Rus' country, and now he owed a lot of foreign debts to European countries, and there was no money to pay Da Zhou at all.

Considering the alliance between France and the Rus' country, Pierre informed Chen Yiming of the situation in the Rus' country, and finally said: "Your Excellency Chen Yiming, the situation in the Rus' country is like this, and it is impossible to lose money to you now. If your country does not agree to an armistice, I can only say that there will be no peace on your borders. ”

After thinking for a moment, Chen Yiming said: "The old man can't be the master of this matter, but the old man can first tell His Majesty the actual situation of the Rus Kingdom and see how His Majesty decides!" ”

。 m.